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LAWSUIT AGAINST BUREAU OF ELECTIONS, CLERK’S OFFICE DISMISSED

LAWSUIT AGAINST BUREAU OF ELECTIONS, CLERK’S OFFICE DISMISSED

September 28, 2018

Third Judicial District Judge Manuel I. Arrieta has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Anthony Water and Sanitation District (AWSD) against the Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office and Bureau of Elections pertaining to a March 20 special mail-in election on the issue of whether to impose additional gross receipt taxes on business operations with the district’s coverage area.
In its lawsuit, the AWSD alleged that the Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office mishandled the election by counting some ballots that arrived in the mail before the polls closed at 7 p.m.
Subsequent to the mail-in voted being counted – but before the polls closed – the Clerk’s Office received and tallied two additional votes, and the election then failed by a one-vote margin, 80-79.
In his Sept. 12 ruling, Arrieta said the New Mexico Elections Code has no provision for challenging a mail-in election.